This blog is for students taking English 140-189 at Athabasca University.

13 August 2015

WELCOME!

Welcome to the English Skills blog for English 140 (Grammar), English 143 (Writing for Academic Purposes), and English 146 (Reading for Academic Purposes) at Athabasca University. These courses may be taken separately or as part of the English Language Proficiency Program.The goal is to increase communication between students and instructors, and to provide students with an opportunity to communicate with each other and to practice the skills taught in these courses. If you post general questions about the assignments or the course, they will be addressed in the blog. If you have detailed questions you want answered, then e-mail your instructor.Feel free to post comments and suggestions for how to improve this site!WELCOME NEW STUDENTS!

A hearty welcome to all the new students joining these courses. We hope you enjoy your studies and have fun participating in this blog.

Assignments marked with asterisks (*.*) are mandatory for ENGL140 students (Assignment 9).

For information on how to participate, please visit the instructions page or contact the administrator.IMPORTANT: This blog site is open to the public; do not post personal information that could identify you--first name and the initial of your last name are the only personal information you should post. Please watch this video from the Canadian Government explaining privacy issues and social networking.

Also, be sure to let your tutors know the nickname you have chosen for this blog; otherwise, they will not be able to give you the marks/bonus marks that you have earned for your participation.

DEFINITIONS

Clause: A clause is a group of words containing a subject and a verb.Independent clause: A clause that can be used alone as a sentence and that does not need any other grammatical construction: e.g. He hit the ball over the fence.Dependent clause: A clause that cannot form a separate sentence; there must be an independent clause for it to modify: e.g. When Peter played baseball, he hit the ball over the fence.Phrase: A group of words used together to express an idea but without a subject and a verb: e.g. In the game yesterday, he hit the ball over the fence.

PUNCTUATION BASICS

1. When using an introductory phrase, remember to set it off with a comma.2. If you have an introductory dependent clause, set it off with a comma.3. Two independent clauses can be more difficult; use a semicolon to separate them if there is no coordinating conjunction, but use a comma if there is a one.